Tag Archives: Retail

Screen Time? Cinemas and Town Centres

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

One of the things that people have missed though the pandemic is the ability to go to a cinema and see a film. This is a social as well as an artistic activity, whihc raises questions about the types and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Cinemas, Consumers, Creative Places, High Streets, Regeneration, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Social value, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Essential vs Non-Essential Retailing

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

At the start of lockdown in March, there was a division of retailing into essential and non-essential retailing, with a secondary division into physical and online channels.  There was some grumbling from some retailers (Sports Direct, Waterstones) who felt they … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Closure, Essential Retailing, Government, Independents, Lockdown, Non-Essential Retailing, Non-food retailing, Online Retailing, Regulation, Scottish Government, Uncategorized, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Footfall, Curfews and Data

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

There have been many outrageous statements made over the last months of the pandemic (and in terms of the subject of this post – footfall – in the months and years prior), but recent offerings have really taken the biscuit.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumers, Covid19, Government, High Streets, Media, Places, Public Policy, Retail Policy, Shopping, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lockdown Reading: Welsh Saints on the Mormon Trail

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

When we were living in the USA in 2000-1 we flew to Jackson Hole in Wyoming via Salt Lake City.  That last flight to Jackson Hole was the most unpleasant flight I’ve taken before or since, shaken and bounced over … Continue reading →

Posted in Ajax Underground Store, Buildings, Catalogues, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Emigration, Historic Shops, History, Mormons, Places, Retail History, Retailers, Retailing, Uncategorized, USA, Wales, Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confidence, Cash and Friction: Shopping in Scotland

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

So, shops (well those not cooped up in an indoor shopping centre) in Scotland are now open. The long road back to re-opening the economy has taken another step forward, and one result is a gigantic queue outside a city … Continue reading →

Posted in Cash, Click and Collect, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Covid19, Employees, Friction, High Streets, Home Delivery, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Queuing, Retail Change, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Shopping Centres, Social Distancing, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas and more in March – but only for some

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

On the 31st March, Kantar released their data on the last four weeks of grocery sales and the figures were eye-watering, outperforming Christmas sales and periods. March was the biggest month of grocery sales in the UK ever recorded. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Christmas, Community Grocer, Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Covid19, Data, Food, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Kantar, Lidl, Local Retailers, Logistics, Non-food retailing, Online Retailing, Panic buying, Restaurants, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Sainsbury, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Making Hospital Shops Healthier

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

Over the last seven or so years, for a variety of personal reasons, I have seen more of the insides of hospitals than I have wanted to.  I am not alone in this at my life stage of course.  Those … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Behavioural Economics, Consumer Lifestyle, Diet and Health, Food Retailing, Food Standards Scotland, Government, Health, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Hospital, Hospital Shops, Institute for Retail Studies, NHS Health Scotland, Promotion, Public Health lev, Regulation, Research, Retailers, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Tobacco, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Well being | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shops: More or Less (and #IndieHour)

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

This blog has a number of recurring themes – or nightmares.  Most of them are focused around the themes of the mis-use of data, the lack of reaction about the structural change underway across retailing and the unwillingness of many … Continue reading →

Posted in #IndieHour, Collaboration, Consumers, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Landlords, Online Retailing, Reinvention, Relationships, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Small Shops, Start-ups, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Vibrancy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hull and Beyond

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

  I’ve never knowingly been to Hull.  It’s not that I’ve anything against Hull, just that the question of going there has never arisen.  I became a little more aware of it when it owned the accolade as UK City … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, BHS, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Design, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Places, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail History, Spaces, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Going Self-Service – a 70 year old revolution?

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

A few weeks ago a journalist rang and asked about the introduction of self-service retailing into the UK.  A particular question was about the way in which retailers converting to self-service in the 1940s and 1950s knew what to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Change, Customer Service, Express Dairies, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail innovation, Retailers, Retailing, Self-checkout, Self-Service, Small Shops, Tesco, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment